Personnel committee reports 64-attendee job fair, HR goals and proposals to address special-education shortages

Patrick McGowan, personnel committee chair, reported two committee goals: start monthly exit-number reporting and provide brief write-ups summarizing professional-candidate experience for board review.

McGowan said the district’s recent HR job fair attracted 64 people and resulted in 14 hires. "For 64 people to come out on the seventeenth and then converting 14 of them directly as new hires is phenomenal work," he said, and thanked HR staff who organized the event.

The committee listed numerous ratifications slated for the February agenda including terminations, resignations, hires, rehires, changes of assignment, leaves of absence, supplemental contracts, mentoring positions and professional employment approvals; supporting documents are available in the shared drive, McGowan said.

On staffing, the committee discussed difficulty filling special-education positions and options to incentivize recruitment. McGowan presented an example incentive structure "maybe a $10,000 — $10,000 over a 2-year commitment, dollars 5,000 for each year," and noted the committee agreed to explore options and measure fiscal impact before any policy change.

The superintendent updated the board on one hard-to-fill math position: an offer was made but the candidate accepted another position. The superintendent said the district will rotate certified math teachers across classrooms and pursue a tutoring partnership with Ask for Tutoring (Coach Kelly) to provide two 1.5-hour sessions per week for up to 30 students for roughly nine weeks starting mid-March; parents will be surveyed on interest and transportation needs.